EU may appoint a negotiator to deal with Putin

European Union discusses appointing a separate negotiator to deal with Putin

The European Union is considering the appointment of a separate negotiator for contacts with russian president Vladimir Putin. This is reported by the Politico with reference to sources in European capitals and EU institutions.

The initiative comes amid growing pressure from national governments to the EU's only negotiating channel on the war against Ukraine.

Who supports the idea

According to Politico, the idea of creating a single negotiator is supported:

• France

• Italy

• part European Commission

• a number of other EU member states

In particular, Emmanuel Macron і George Maloney in recent weeks have publicly called for open diplomatic channels with Putin and his entourage, The reasoning behind this is the need to preserve Europe's influence on possible peace processes.

Reasons for the intensification of discussions

The process takes place in the background:

• stagnation of the White House's peace initiatives;

• growing fears in the EU that The us can reach an agreement with russia without europe's involvement;

• Brussels' desire to preserve Unity of EU position and avoid scattered contacts between individual states and Moscow.

Diplomats emphasise that the absence of an agreed representative weakens Europe's position in the event of real negotiations.

Context.

Previously, European countries have repeatedly demonstrated differences in their approaches to contacts with Russia, ranging from a hard line of complete isolation to cautious calls for diplomacy.

The idea of a single negotiator is intended to prevent uncoordinated initiatives and ensure a controlled format of interaction in the event of changes on the diplomatic front.

What's next

So far, no decision has been made to appoint a negotiator. Discussions are ongoing, and the issue may be raised at the level of EU leaders in the coming weeks.